w^in 






THE 



EXHIBITIONS AT HARVARD COLLEGE 



FOUNDED PRIOK TO 1800. 



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^UQ 23 1811 J 



THE 



EXHIBITIONS AT HARVARD COLLEGE 



FOUNDED PRIOR TO 1800. 



BY 

ANDREW McFARLAND DAVIS. 



[Reprinted from the N. E. Historical and Genealogical Register for July, 1892.] 



BOSTON : 

DAVID CLAPP & SON, PRINTERS, 

115 High Street, 

1892. 



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V 



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THE EXHIBITIONS OF HARVAED COLLEGE PRIOR 

TO 1800. 



The histories of Harvard College all furnish information concern- 
ing the several funds given to the Coll-ege for the purpose of estab- 
lishing exhibitions at Cambridge. Eliot gives a tabulated statement 
which purports to contain all the gifts received by the College down 
to the year 184^5. This statement was also published in pamphlet 
form. The exhibitions are not, however, separately collated in any 
of these publications. There is enough of historical interest con- 
nected with the early exhibitions to justify the publication of a list 
composed exclusively of beneficiary trusts for students received by 
the College prior to 1800, showing the sources whence they came 
and the specific purposes to which their founders dedicated them, 
even if such a list should contain but little information that is new. 

Lady Mowlson Gift. The first scholarship at Harvard was founded 
in 1643 by Ann Mowlson of London. The money was received by 
Thomas Weld, Pastor of the Roxbury Church, whose authority in this 
behalf was derived from the General Court of Massachusetts Bay. The 
amount of the gift was £100, and payment was made by Weld to the 
Country Treasurer. Interest on this fund was paid to the College by the 
Colony until 1685, when for some reason it lapsed; but in 1713 payment 
of principal and interest was made to the College Treasurer. 

The College is in possession of a document setting forth over the signa- 
ture of the founder of this scholarship her purpose in establishing it. By 
the terms of this document it appears that the yearly revenue of this fund 
was "according to her good and pious intention" "to be and to remain a 
perpetual stipend for and towards the perpetual maintenance of some poor 
scholar who shall be admitted into the said College by the said trustees or 
the major part of them, which poor scholar is to enjoy the said yearly 
stipend only until such time as such poor scholar doth attain the degree of 
a Master of Arts and no longer, and then the said yearly stipend shall by 
the said trustees be bestowed upon another poor scholar of the said College 
whom the said trustees shall think best deserving, so the said stipend to 
go in succession from one poor scholar to another, therefor and towards 
their yearly maintenance in perpetuum in manner and form as aforesaid." 
Such facts as are known relative to the history of this scholarship are 
published in the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society for 
October, 1887. It is unquestionably the oldest and most interesting 
foundation of the kind in this country. Its age would entitle it to respect 



even in England.* It is unfortunate that no information as to the founder 
has been obtained; and it must be regarded as somewhat remarkable that 
from the day of its foundation to the present time, fate seems to have 
determined that the Lady Mowlson scholarship should not have an inde- 
pendent existence-t 

John Glover Fund. In 1653, John Glover of Boston left to "Har- 
vard College at Cambridge for and towards the maintenance of a Fellow 
there, five pounds a year forever." It is stated in the Treasurer's Report 
that this annuity is accumulating. 

Edward Hopkins Bequest. In 1657, Edward Hopkins, Governor 
of Connecticut, left a sum of money " for the breeding up of hopeful youths 
both at the Grammar School and College for the public service of the 
Colony in future times." This bequest has figured in the courts, both 
sides of the ocean, but is now in the hands of trustees and the College 
receives a part of the income from it.| Its history has been repeatedly 
published. 

* Since the publication of the paper in the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian 
Society, entitled " The first Scholarship at Harvard College," I have been watchful for 
anything which might help me in identifying Lady Mowlson. I found in Brown's Genesis 
of the United States that Thomas Moulson was present, April 15, 1614, at the Court of 
Assistants of the Grocers' Company. The fact that the name is not a common one, and that 
it occured in connection with American ventures, led me to the conclusion that the reference 
was worth preserving. Mr. John Ward Dean has kindly called my attention to the fact 
tliat Sir Thomas Moulson, Lord Mayor of London in 1634, was knighted at Greenwich on 
the 1st of June in that year. Through his assistance I am able to trace in the Calendar 
of State Papers, Domestic, 1633-6, enough of the career of Sir Thomas to disclose the fol- 
lowing facts. In March, 1634, the Lord Mayor of London died. Thomas Moulson, at that 
time an alderman, was chosen " to succeed in that government." After his term of office as 
Lord Mayor was completed, he again served as alderman. His name appears in reports to 
the Council, and communications to him are to be found, from the hands of the Commis- 
sioners of Pious Uses and from the King. 

In Fuller's Worthies of England, Nuttall's Edition, 1840, vol. i., p. 282, Moulson is 
classified as a native of Cheshire and it is there stated that " this Thomas Moulson founded 
a fair school in the town where he was born," and in a note Nuttall states that " he founded 
a chapel at Hargrave-Stubbs and endowed it with 40 1. a year. He also endowed a school 
adjoining with 20 1." Nuttall refers to Lyson's Cheshire for his authority. Turning to 
this volume, which is the second part of the second volume of Lyson's Magna Britannia, 
we find references to Sir Thomas on pages 400 and 798. The school which he founded was 
"for the government, education, and instruction of youth in grammar and virtue." He 
directed " the overplus of rents arising from certain lands, then by him given, to be 
applied to the relief of such poor persons as the majority of the feoffees shall think fit." 

The name is generally spelt Moulson, but it occurs once in the Calendar of State Papers 
" Mowlson." 

It appears in the list of Sheriffs/or London and Middlesex, given in Fuller's Worthies, 
vol. ii., p. 407. 21. James I. 

These facts bring before us a successful merchant and a public-spirited man, whom his 
fellow citizens delighted to honor. His interest in American aflTairs which led him to be 
present at the meeting of the Court of Assistants of the Grocers' Companj'- has brought his 
name into an American book published nearly three centuries after the meeting in question. 
He recognized his obligations to his fellow men and sought to provide for the welfare of 
posterity out of the fortune which he had accumulated. 

Is there any connection between Lady Ann Mowlson, the London widow, who in 1643 
founded the first scholarship at Harvard, and Sir Thomas Moulson, Lord Mayor of London 
and founder of the school at Hargrave-Stubbs ? This question can be easily answered by 
British antiquaries. 

t Newgate Annuity. An annuity left by John Newgate in 1650, although by its terms 
not an exhibition, was often treated as such by the College authorities. 

J Allusions to this Bequest, more or less elaborate, will be found in many of the general 
histories. Quincy gives some details in his History of Harvard College. For further par- 

"flOlllRl'S SPG * 

N. E. Hist, and Gen. Reg., vol. 38, pp. 315, 316. 

A Brief Account of the Funds that came from the Estate of Edward Hopkins from the 
Report of the School Committee of Cambridge for the year 1885. Cambridge, 1886. [Pre- 
pared by John Lewis Hildreth.] 

An Account of the Trust administered by the Trustees of the Charity of Edward Hopkins, 
by Charles Pickering Bowditch. Privately printed, 1889. 

Trumbull's Connecticut. Vol. I. Appendix. 



John Doderidge Annuity. In 1659, John Doderidge by will, duly 
proved at London, England, left an annuity to the College. The clause in 
the will relating to the exhibition is as follows: 

" Also I give and bequeath unto ye College in New England towards ye 
maintenance of scholars there, ye yearly sum of ten pounds to be forever 
offering and going forth out of my said Rectory of Fremington in ye 
County of Devon." 

This annuity was paid until 1685. In 1720, steps were taken to test 
the legal rights of the College. This was the cause of considerable ex- 
penditure of money without return of any sort. In 1737, the quest was 
abandoned as hopeless by advice of Counsel. 

Robert Ketne House. In 1659, Robert Keyne of Boston left to 
the College a legacy of £100 and ''also the one moiety or halfe part of a 
house situate in Boston near to the old meeting house vallued at one 
hundred and forty five pound ten shillings." This house was sold to Col. 
Paige, July 8, 1696, for £100. The testator's desire was that the bequest 
should be " improved and used for the use and help of poor and hopeful 
scholars " ; but he left the disposal of the property to the discretion of the 
" President, Trustees and Overseers." The income was frequently dis- 
tributed among poor scholars. 

Henry Webb Legacy. In 1660, Henry Webb left the College by 
will a house in Boston, " the rent to be forever for the maintenance of 
some poor scholars or otherwise for the best good of the College." He 
also left £50 to be invested in pasture ground or a house, the yearly income 
of which was to be applied to the same ends. 

The house stood where Little, Brown & Co.'s book store now stands. 
The property still belongs to the College. The liberal character of the 
foundation leaves the application of the income of the fund entirely under 
the control of the College authorities. It may be that more useful applica- 
tion can be made of this income than in the establishment of ordinary 
scholarships; yet it would seem that a suitable recognition of the liberal 
founder of this trust would require the association of his name with some 
scholarship, so that it might be spread upon the pages of the Catalogue 
each year as a permanent record of the gratitude of the College. 

William Pennoyer Scholarships. The will of William Pennoyer, 
through which the College was put in possession of an annuity, of which 
it still receives the benefit, was executed in 1670. The income is for the 
benefit of " two fellows and two scholars," one of them to be of the 
posterity of Robert Pennoyer as often as occasion shall present; the other 
to be of New Haven Colony if conveniently may be. When the clause 
in the will containing these provisions was transcribed for the aid of the 
College authorities in assigning these scholarships, an error of chirography 
served to puzzle the College fathers for nearly fifty years. The phrase in 
the original will, " the other the Colony of now or of late called New 
Haven," became when transcribed " the other the Colony of Nox or of late 
called New Haven." The history of this curious error, so far as it may be 
gathered from the records of the College, may be found in the Proceedings 
of the American Antiquarian Society for April, 1887. A description of 
the scholarship will be found in the College catalogue. 

Elder Pen Annuity. In 1671, Elder Pen left an annuity of £10 
per annum for poor scholars at the College, but neither the funds nor the 
distribution were under the control of the Corporation. 



6 

Richard Bellingham Reversionary Interest. In 1672, Richard 
Bellingham left a reversionary interest which was to be administered " to 
be an annual encouragement to some godly ministers who may be such 
who shall be by my trustees judged faithful to those principles in Chh. 
discipline which are owned and pracitzed in ye first chh of Christ in Boston 
of which I am a member, a main one whereof is that all ecclesiasticall 
jurisdiction is coriiitted by Christ to each particular organical Chh., from 
which there is no appeal, visible saintship being the matter, and express 
covenanting ye form of ye Chh." The third instruction which he gave to 
the trustees was as follows : 

" That four or six, more or less, young students be brought up for ye 
ministry as the estate will bear." 

A copy of this will has been preserved ; but no mention of the College 
having reaped any benefit from its provisions appears in the records. 

Richard Russell Bequest. In 1679, Richard Russell of Charles- 
town executed a will which contained the following clause : " To Harvard 
College in Cambridge I do give and bequeath one hundred pounds and my 
last will is that it shall be improved for (the) purchase of some real estate 
or otherwise so as to bring in an annual revenue and the principal revenue 
shall be allowed to two poor students that may need the same, for their 
furtherance in good literature, and before payment thereof, security shall 
be given my executors for the fulfilling my will in this relation to the 
content of my overseers." Of this legacy £31 13s. 4d. was received in 
provisions, and for many years the balance figured in the College accounts 
as a debt due the College. No mention is made in the records of know- 
ledge of any trust being attached to this partial payment. 

Samuel Ward Legacy. In 1681, Samuel Ward left Bumkin Island 
to the College. " His mind" was, according to the will, that the income 
derived from the island should be applied " for the easement of the charges 
of the dyet of the students that are in commons." This island, which is 
situated in Boston Harbor, is still owned by the College. 

Browne Scholarship. In 1681, William Brown of Salem bequeathed 
£100 to the College for the bringing up of poor scholars. William Brown 
is described in the Catalogue as the founder of this scholarship to which 
subsequent contributions were made by Benjamin Brown, Major William 
Brown and Col. Samuel Brown. These will be referred to in detail in 
chronological sequence. 

Nathaniel Hulton Gift. In 1691, Nathaniel Hulton of Newing- 
ton Greene wrote to Increase Mather as follows: 

"It is my resolution to give one hundred pounds, I say £100, which is 
as much as I can do considering my estate and the many poor relations I 
have, and this £100 I do wholly and absolutely leave to you to lay it out 
upon something that will bring in a yearly revenue forever, and that upon 
a true title that will last, and as soon as you have found a place you may 
charge me with £100 sterling money, and I shall pay it if I be alive, or if 
I be (lead I will take care to leave order that it be paid when you charge 
j(; " * * * a I leave it wholly to you to lay it out and have ye income 
shall be bestowed so as may do most good." Hulton executed a codicil to 
his will to the following effect : " I give and bequeath to Mr. Increase 
Mather Minister of ye Gospel in New England ye sum of one hundred 
pounds lawful money of England for ye use of ye College of which he 



is President." At a meeting of the Corporation held June 1, 1709, 
it was proposed by Mr. Increase Mather that one of his son Walter's 
children might have the benefit of the above legacy while at the College, 
which was assented to. The fund was treated for many years as an exhibi- 
tion fund.* 

Sewall Scholarships. In 1696, Hon. Samuel Sewall of Boston, and 
his wife, gave the College a farm in the Naragansett Country, the income 
thereof to be appropriated to the support and education of youths of in- 
sufficient means, those from Petaquamscot, if any, to be preferred. These 
scholarships are described in the Catalogue. 

Stoughton Scholarship. In 1703, William Stoughton left to the 
College by will twenty-three acres of pasture land and four acres of marsh 
land in Dorchester, the yearly income to be for the benefit of some Dor- 
chester scholars ; if none such are at the College, then to some Milton 
scholar, and in want of such to any well deserving that is needy. This 
scholarship is described in the Catalogue. 

Captain Richard Sprague Bequest. In 1703, Captain Eichard 
Sprague of Charlestown left £400 to Harvard College, to be disposed of 
for the benefit and advantage of the Corporation, according to the direction 
of Vice President Willard, John Leverett, Rev. William Brattle and Rev. 
Simon Bradstreet. In 1726, Bradstreet, being then the only survivor of 
the trustees, resigned his power of disposing of the donation, into the hands 
of the honored and reverend Corporation of Harvard College. This be- 
quest, although not specifically an exhibition, was so administered for 
many years. 

Benjamin Brown Bequest. In 1708, Benjamin Brown bequeathed 
two hundred pounds for the support of poor scholars, preference to be given 
to Salem scholars. This bequest is included in the Catalogue under the 
scholarship described as the Browne scholarship. 

Thomas Brattle Bequest. In 1713, Thomas Brattle bequeathed 
£200 " towards the maintenance of some Master of Arts and especially of 
such a one as is best skilled in mathematics and shall by all proper 
methods endeavor the improvement thereof; as by reading and teaching 
the same and making observations and communicating them to the learned 
abroad as in some manner I have done, respect and preference being ever- 
more given to such as shall be akin by blood unto me above and before all 
others."! 

Major William Brown Bequest. In 1716, Major William Brown, 
second brother to Benjamin Brown, bequeathed £100, the income to be used 
to help support his descendants while students at the College; if none 
there, then to help maintain poor scholars from Salem. This bequest is 
included under the scholarship described in the Catalogue as the Browne 
scholarship. 

* Major John Richards Bequest. In 1694, Major John Richards bequeathed to Har- 
vard College £100 •' the yearly profit to be towards the maintenance of poor scholars at 
the discretion of the President and Fellows for the time being." In Treasurer Brattle's 
statement for 1696 this legacy appears as a debt due the College, but inasmuch as no men- 
tion is ever made of the bequest among the annual exhibitions it is not probable that it was 
ever collected. 

+ Thomas Richari>s Legacy. Quincy (Vol. II. p. 526) classifies a legacy of Thomas 
Richards in 1714 among the exhibitions. The following is the language of the will: 
•* Item I give to Harvard CoUedge Thirty Pounds." 



8 

Rev. William Brattle Bequest. In 1717, William Brattle be- 
queathed £250 " with this proviso and in expectation and confidence that 
said President and Fellows and whosoever shall succeed or come in their 
stead and room for the improvement and use of said money, do, will and 
shall take effectual care forever that £15 annually be disposed of to one 
or more of students at ye discretion and pleasure of said President and 
Fellows unless said student or students be nominated and appointed by 
some of my kindred related to me by blood." There is another clause in 
the will in which he gives to the College £250, " with the same purpose 
and proviso that are before mentioned in this will with respect to my 
former legacy to said College." The College apparently received £250 
under this will.* 

Col. Samuel Brown Gift. In 1720, Col. Samuel Brown gave 
£150 to be used for the support of poor students. This gift is included in 
the " Browne Scholarship " described in the Catalogue. 

HoLLis Scholarship. The remittances of Thomas Hollis to Harvard 
College began in 1719. By his correspondence it appears that his sole 
purpose at first was to assist poor and pious young men in their studies for 
the ministry. When in February, 1720-21, he founded the Professorship 
of Divinity, he provided in the same instrument for one exhibition of ten 
pounds a year for a student for the ministry and for the division of the 
surplus income into as many more exhibitions of ten pounds each as the 
annual income would bear. 

The details concerning these scholarships were more thoroughly fixed in 
1722 and are given in the Hollis Statute, recorded in the Hollis Book. 
"Dunces, Rakes and persons reasonably judged able to maintain them- 
selves " are there declared " not fit to partake of this bounty." The scholar- 
ship is described in the Catalogue. 

Rev. Henry Gibbs Legacy. In 1722, Rev. Henry Gibbs of Water- 
town left a legacy of £100 to the College, " The yearly interest to be 
exhibited to such members of the College as need it, firstly to my children's 
posterity if they desire it." 

Capt. Ephraim Flynt Bequest. In 1723, Capt. Ephraim Flynt 
bequeathed £100 to Harvard College "to be applied at the discretion of 
ye Corporation yt is to say ye income thereof to ye benefit of ye scholars 
there who are studious, well disposed and want help." 

Thomas Danforth Gift. In 1724, Thomas Danforth made the 
following communication to the Corporation: "To Harvard College on 
the condition hereafter named I do give, and when they have a President 
settled will confirm by deed, these three tenements at Framingham etc. etc. 
to have and hold ye same forever to their only use and behoof. The con- 
ditions are as followeth: i.e. 

1. That the Annual Rents shall be for the support of such students as 

* Mrs. HrxcHixsox Gift axd Johx Wallet Legacy. Quincy [Vol. II. p. 526] 
classifies a gift of £10 by the widow of Eliakim Hutcbinson and a legacy of £100 by John 
Walley among the exhibitions. Hutchinson died in 1717. For several years previous to 
his death he had annually given the College £10. In 1718 the same amount was received 
from his widow. Leverett records the fact that "the President asked her whether she was 
pleased to give him any directions about the disposition of it, she said no, and so left it 
with him." The terms prescribed for the disposition of Walley's legacy were " for the 
use of two scholars £15 per annum for three years after taking their first degree, £10 
towards the charge of their second degree." Of course these assignments could not be 
made from the income of this bequest. 



shall from time to time use and improve one of the studies in ye new 
lodgings erected by Mr. Stoughton. 

2. That ye nomination of said person shall be by my heirs resident in 
ye Province. 

3. That such student shall be exempt from paying study rent and 
detriment. 

4. If such lodgings shall not be from time to time got and kept in good 
repair, or if any prelatical injunction shall be imposed on said Society, yt 
in such case my gift shall revert to my heirs. 

I shall advise of a meet form for such an instrument as soon as a Col- 
lege is gathered." In a codicil to his will Danforth left these leases to the 
College "on such conditions as I shall name." 

Beginning with the year 1730, the Danforth or Framingham leases 
figure regularly in the list of exhibitions. For many years no single ex- 
hibition on the list equalled this in value. In 1806 in a list of exhibitions 
for sundry legacies and donations amounting to $5,016.66, this appears as 
one. 

Anne Mills Legacy. In 1725, Mrs. Anne Mills left the College a 
legacy of £50, " which fifty pounds my will is should be improved towards 
ye bringing up of such scholars as shall most need it." This fund figured 
as an exhibition for many years. 

Saltonstall Scholarships. In 1730, Madam Mary Saltonstall, 
widow of Gov. Gurdon Saltonstall of Connecticut, bequeathed to the Col- 
lege £1000, the income of which was to be given to two persons without 
means, of bright parts and good diligence (always dissenters) to fit them 
for the Church of Christ ; those related to the giver by consanguinity to be 
preferred. These scholarships are described in the Catalogue. 

Col. Samuel Brown Bequest. In 1731, Col. Samuel Brown, the 
same who in 1720 gave £150 for an exhibition, bequeathed his estate in 
Hopkinton, the income thereof to be used for bringing up poor scholars, 
those recommended by his posterity to be preferred. This bequest is 
included in the scholarship described in the Catalogue as the Browne 
Scholarship. 

Nathaniel Hollis Gift. January 27, 1731-2, Nathaniel Hollis 
transmitted £350 in Province Bills to give an exhibition for two more 
scholarships subject to the same rules and orders as the ten established by 
his late brother, Thomas Hollis. " What I chiefly intend is yt they be 
both Indian students, now and at all times if they can be had; but if not I 
leave yt to ye College to fill up with such persons as they judge piously 
inclined, useful to ye ministry." Described in the Catalogue under Hollis 
Scholarship. 

Dorothy Saltonstall Scholarships. In 1733, Dorothy Saltonstall 
bequeathed £300, the interest thereof to be employed yearly for the bene- 
fit of two poor scholars according to the discretion of the President and 
Fellows of said College for the time being. These scholarships are de- 
scribed in the Catalogue. 

Thomas Fitch Legacy. In 1737, the College received a legacy 
of £300 from Hon. Thomas Fitch " for the education of scholars of good 
capacity for the work of the ministry." This was treated as an exhibition. 



10 

President Wadsworth's Charity Bag. In 1737, President Wads- 
worth bequeathed out of the money in his charity bag £110, "six pounds 
of the annual income thereof to be for the support of some poor scholar 
or scholars residing at the College (tho to no dunce or rake) at the dis- 
cretion of the Corporation. And if any relative to me by blood should be 
at the College and need, I would have such one preferred." 

John Ellert Bequest. In 1738, £150, old tenor, was left by 
John Ellery " for the maintenance of any of the students that may stand in 
need of such help." This legacy was treated as an exhibition and appears 
upon the annual lists in the records for many years. 

Daniel Henchman Gifts. In April, 1742, Daniel Henchman gave 
the College 100 oz. of silver, the annual income to be added to the salary 
of the Hollisian Professor of Divinity. In October of the same year, he 
gave £150 for the same purpose. It was to be applied in this way so long 
as the Professor should be a man of the Congregational or Presbyterian 
Church and would profess and teach the principles of the Christian religion, 
according to the well known confession of faith drawn up by a synod of 
the churches in New England. Failing either of these points, it was to be 
used for the benefit of some deserving student of said College whose parents 
should not be able to bear the charges of his public education and who 
should also be approved by the pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, 
for the time being, preference being given to a child of Boston. In 1758, 
Henchman also gave JC66 13s. 4d., the interest of which was to be given to 
the Hollis Professor of Mathematics. 

President Holtoke Gift and Legacy. In 1743, President Hol- 
yoke gave £100 old tenor to the College, the income to be for the use of. 
the College until further directions were given for the disposal of the same. 
By his will he left £13 6s. 8d. lawful money, " the income at present as 
the Corporation shall see meet, but my will is that when at any time here- 
after there shall be one or more related to me by consanguinity, shall be a 
member or members of said College, the income of this my bequest as also 
of that gift which I gave the College about two and twenty years ago, viz. 
one hundred pounds O. T. shall be given to such relative or relatives of 
mine, if they shall stand in need or want thereof, such want to be judged 
by the corporation of said College." 

Henry Flynt Bequest. In 1760, Henry Flynt, the venerable tutor, 
bequeathed £700 old tenor, or £93 6s. 8d. lawful money, the annual in- 
come to be for the four senior tutors as an addition to their salaries. He 
also left a legacy of £112 10s. old tenor or fifty Spanish dollars, "the 
yearly interest to be paid to one or more needy scholars who are diligent 
and virtuous at the discretion of the Corporation. My relatives of the 
blood to have the preference." These bequests are recognized in the 
Treasurer's report. 

Rev. Dr. Joseph Sewall Gift. In 1765, Rev. Dr. Joseph Sewall 
gave £20 lawful money. Mr. Hubbard informed the Corporation that Dr. 
Sewall signified to him that he desired the income of this donation should 
be disposed of to needy scholars. 

Rev. Dr. Appleton Gift. In 1772, Rev. Dr. Appleton gave to the 
President and Fellows of Harvard College £30 lawful money, " desiring 
and expecting the annual interest thereof be every year exhibited to some 



11 

well deserving student at the College, whose circumstances shall need such 
charitable assistance; and whenever any of my posterity shall be at the 
College that they shall have the benefit of this donation if their parents or 
guardians shall desire it; and this donation is instead of ye legacy given to 
said College in my last will and testament." 

Notwithstanding this last clause, the College received in 1784, £26 from 
the estate of Dr. Appleton for the same purpose. The clause under which 
this was taken was as follows : " I give to the President and Fellows of 
Harvard College, the interest thereof to be by them given to some poor 
but well deserving scholar agreeable to my directions with respect to a 
former donation to said corporation." 

Mary Lindall Legacy. Mary Lindall by will, proved June 17, 
1776, left the College £100, "the interest to be by them applied and 
annually exhibited to such scholar or scholars at said College of good 
character whose circumstances call for such charitable assistance, and that 
the preference be always to such who shall be related to me by blood, and 
in want of such to some scholar or scholars of the town of Salem." This 
legacy was paid in 1812. 

Alford Scholarship. Joanna Alford in 1785 bequeathed £100 
sterling to the College, the income to be appropriated for the education of 
those students who are under low and indigent circumstances. This 
scholarship is described in the Catalogue.* 

It would be interesting to pursue the study of these exhibitions 
to a later date ; but the beginning of a new century nearly coinci- 
dent with a change in the form of government of the country fur- 
nishes a suitable stopping place. When the College was founded, 
and for nearly a century and a half thereafter, the accounts were 
kept in single entry. During this period, annual assignments were 
made of the specific income of the several scholarships, and the 
lives of these scholarships can be traced through the records. When 
the system of double entry book-keeping was adopted, the existing 
exhibitions of which the Treasurer had any knowledge were bunched 
in a single account termed the " Exhibition Account " ; and there- 
after their history was consigned to the oblivion of that account. 
Some of them have since been rescued and re-instated upon separate 
bases. The majority survive only in the general account. 

It is a satisfaction to be able to state that I have been able to 
trace into the exhibition account all the gifts or legacies mentioned 
in the foregoing list which can properly be defined as exhibitions, 
and payment of which to the College can clearly be shown, with the 
exception of the Lady Mowlson Scholarship and the Richard Russell 
Bequest, f In the case of the former, the fact that the College 
treasurer was not made the custodian of the fund until seventy years 

* West Boston Bridge Appropriation. When the West Boston Bridge was estab- 
lished the Legislature provided that the annuity granted the College for the revocation of 
its vested rights in the Charlestown ferry should be appropriated towards "defraying the 
tuition of indigent scholars, or for the reducing the expense of tuition to all the other 
scholars." The terms of this enactment were altered a few years thereafter. 

t I ought perhaps to add that I have made no effort to follow the Mary Lindall legacy, 
as it "was not paid till 1812. 



12 

after the foundation of the scholarship furnishes an explanation for 
the evident ignorance of the College officers of the conditions at- 
tached to the gift.* In the latter case, it may be inferred from the 
absence of any allusion in the records to the intention of Russell to 
found an exhibition, that the College treasurer was ignorant of the 
terms of the will. The partial payment of which we have knowledge 
was apparently the only payment made to the College. If it is 
unfortunate that the titles of any of these foundations should be lost 
from sight, still it must be a source of congratulation that the funds 
have survived the extraordinary fluctuations to which investments of 
that period were exposed. Eliot, in a memorandum following 
his entry of Thomas Brattle's bequest, referring to his attempt at ex- 
pressing the value of the gifts in sterling and in currency, says : 
"At this period began the depreciation of the currency of the 
Province, in consequence of the issue of bills of credit by the 
government. Specie disappeared, and the bills increased in num- 
ber and diminished in value till after 1750, when a large sum in 
silver was received from England to reimburse the expenses of the 
colony in the French War, and formed a sufficient basis of circula- 
tion till the Revolution, The rate of depreciation is adopted gener- 
ally on the authority of Mr. Felt : though memoranda in the Col- 
lege records and some private sources of information have been con- 
sulted, and occasionally followed. Probably prices in the money 
market were not so definite as they would have been in a larger and 
more wealthy community ; and the rates here given must be con- 
sidered as generally rather than universally correct." 

This crisis was by no means the most perilous of the hazards 
which current investments of that day had to meet. After having 
passed through the time when they were tested as to value by 

* An examination of the paper on the Lady Mowlson Scholarship, printed in the Pro- 
ceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, to which reference has been made, will 
show that the College fund amounting to £162 16. 4. in the hands of the Treasurer of the 
Province, was, in the latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth 
century, invariably spoken of as consisting of gifts to the CoUese. It is evident that the 
Overseers did not then have knowledge of the existence of the document from which 
quotation has been made in the text, nor were they conscious that the Magistrates of the 
Colony had in 1655 dissented from the conclusion of the Deputies to pay the same over to 
the College, on the express ground that the Lady Mowlson gift was for the establishment 
of scholarships. Both these points will appear from an examination of the record of an 
Overseers' meeting held at Cambridge, July 25, 1712, taken from the Leverett Book, in 
which record the fund is spoken of as a donation, and in which it is stated that two 
memorials, referring probably to recent petitions, had been preferred to the General Court. 
The following is Leverett's account of the meeting in question : 

•' The President represented to the Overseers that there was the sum of £162. 16. 4. due 
being the donation of the Lady Moulson &c. to the College, due from the Countrev ; that 
the Countrey had oblig'd themselves to pay the College £15 P. annum in Countrev pay for 
ye Interest of the sd sura of £162. 16. 4 so long as it remained in the Publick Treasury, 
that ye sum of £15 had been so paid unto the year 1685. That the Principal and Interest 
had bin detained from the College unto this day, and that tho the Treasurer of the College 
by the order of the Corporation had twice prefer'd a memorial in behalf of the College to 
the General Court of the Province, and moved that the Overseers wil be pleased to take 
the matter into their consideration and advise what is to be done in the premisses. 

The Overseers were pleased to view the College records, by which it seemed to be evid't 
that such a sum was due, and they were of opinion that the Countrey w*d be obliged in 
Justice to produce a discharge for the said sum or to pay the principall with the Interest in 
arrear. But the Secretary was desired to search the Countrey records that what light they 
afford might be produced, if further sh'd be demanded, w'ch he was pleased to undertake." 



13 

examining whether they were payable in bills of old or new tenor, 
in lawful money or in sterling, they were exposed to the conditions 
of a currency which may be measured by the titles of the following 
accounts coexistent on the books of the Harvard College Treasurer : 
Paper Currency, Continental Loan Certificates, Bills on France, 
Difference of Exchange, Depreciation Notes, Bills of New Emission 
and Bills of Old Emission. As if to add to the confusion of affairs, 
it is difficult to say what was the real currency unit in use in the 
country. Contributions to a subscription circulated in 1766 were 
made payable in Guineas, Dollars, Joannes, Spanners, Pounds and 
Shillings. 

The Exhibition Account still figures in the Treasurer's report. 
The amount to the credit of the Account in recent reports is between 
nine and ten thousand dollars. It is an open question whether it 
would not be more in accordance with the general policy of the Col- 
lege with reference to gifts, if it should distribute this fund, or the 
greater part of it, crediting such exhibitions as may be supposed to 
have lost their identity through its establishment with proportionate 
amounts, and leaving them to accumulate until they can be used for 
beneficiary purposes. It would seem as if some of these accounts 
have a right to separate existence on the books of the College. If, 
for instance, it should be concluded that the Lady Mowlson Scholar- 
ship is to be found in the Exhibition Account, it would be an easy 
matter to revive it by name. If, however, it should be determined 
that this Scholarship was never covered into that Account, then an 
appeal might be made to some of the wealthy alumni to furnish the 
funds for the establishment of a scholarship of that name. 



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